Vehicles, such as automobiles, are generally designed in structure to carry objects and people inside the vehicle structure. Objects can be carried in either the passenger compartment or in the baggage section or trunk of the automobile. Additionally, automobiles frequently carry objects externally to the trunk or passenger compartment areas, such as objects which are either too large or are not appropriately structured for being carried in the passenger compartment or trunk.
Numerous type vehicle attachments for the roof top, side, front or rear end both permanently or semipermanently affixed to the vehicle have been prposed. The structure, alignment and positioning of these carriers have generally been dictated by the exact type of object that the carrier is designed to accommodate. For example, roof top carriers have been designed and structured to carry relatively light objects, such as luggage, boxes and the like which can be fitted easily on the roof top. Carriers structured for the use on the rear of the vehicle are used for many purposes, such as, for example, bicycles, small vehicles, light motorcycles, and similarly irregularly structured objects which do not lend themselves readily to being carried on a vehicle roof or other areas because of their cumbersome shape or weight characteristics.
The transportation of wheelchairs when not in use presents a difficult problem because of their bulky weight and unusual shape. Typically, in order to transport a wheelchair by way of an automobile, it must be ordinarily loaded into the back seat area of the vehicle which is tedious, awkward and time consuming. Additionally, the wheelchair consumes considerable space that could otherwise be used for additional occupants of the automobile. Additionally, there is considerable risk of damage to the upholstery of the interior of the vehicle. Therefore, several wheelchair carriers have been designed for attachment to the rear of an automobile. Such wheelchair carriers are described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,213,729 issued to Cowles et al on July 22, 1980 and entitled "Vehicle Attached Carrier Pivotable About Plural Axes"; U.S. Pat. No. 3,937,376 issued to Ewing on Feb. 10, 1976 and entitled "Vehicle Support for Wheeled Vehicles" and U.S. Pat. No. 3,800,967 issued to Kosecoff on Apr. 2, 1974 and entitled "Wheelchair Carrier Attachable to Vehicle". Such proposed carriers have been structurally configured to accommodate a wheelchair for attachment to the rear of a vehicle; however, these carriers have not provided the wheelchair user or other person providing care for the wheelchair user with an efficient and easy method of loading and unloading the wheelchair to the carrier. Furthermore, such previously developed wheelchair carriers have prevented access to the trunk interior of an automobile and to the gas tank, if rearwardly located, whether the wheelchair is affixed to the carrier or not.
An additional problem associated with wheelchair carriers is that they are not easily attachable to an automobile by persons lacking in mechanical skills. Since a wheelchair user may be the individual desiring to carry the wheelchair utilizing his automobile, a necessity for a carrier that is easily attachable without assistance from others and which can be attached to the automobile in minimal time is readily apparent. Furthermore, the loading of the wheelchair to the carrier must be achievable by a person of minimal or limited strength which presents a problem because of the cumbersome structure and weight of wheelchairs.
A need has thus arisen for a wheelchair carrier and loading device which is easily attached to a vehicle by a wheelchair user or another individual without assistance from others and in a minimal amount of time. Furthermore, a need has arisen for a wheelchair carrier that will facilitate the lifting of the wheelchair onto the carrier with minimal effort and which does not interfere with the use of trunk space or the gas tank when a wheelchair is being carried by the carrier device.